Among the strange
by zhorla
Summary: Kel gains great respect by becoming the Lady Giantkiller. She captures a young giant who reveals the real reason why they're fighting. She learns that there is more then one way to stop a war. To amend her deed she must bring two peoples peace.
1. Chapter 1

This is insanity, an overwhelmed Kel thought wildly as she shouted orders to evacuate. A carpenter came quickly with the weapon she had requested, and Kel handed him her glaive. She felt almost _naked_, going onto the field without it, but she needed her extra hand for balance. In any case, she had Griffon strapped to her back and its namesake flying above head, screeching warnings to the coming immortal.

But Quick was barely adolescent. He wouldn't stand a chance against a giant.

She brought two fingers to her lips and whistled sharply. Recognizing the signal, Quick dove to her, scattering all of the civilians in the vicinity (they were leery of him despite her reassurances). His feathers stood on end, especially the ring around his neck that was mostly fluff. His eyes were such a dark copper as to be nearly red, and he was shaking.

Kel put a soothing hand to the mark on his left shoulder and rubbed it; that always calmed him. Once he looked rational again, she turned to the gathered volunteers.

"Giants don't usually attack alone," she said, pitching her voice to reach the furthest man. "There will likely be soldiers alongside him. I have called for reinforcements, but you _must_ defend your city from the enemy! Do not worry about the giant. He's mine."

This seemed to bolster their spirits – the former student of the famed Giantkiller, the equally infamous Protector of the Small was with them. Perhaps they thought Lord Raoul had secretly given her lessons in the art of felling large immortals.

"_What is the best defence for a lone knight against a giant?"_

"_The lance!"_

Perhaps he had.

Kel knew that, without preparation, the villagers would only be cannon fodder against even the most basically-trained soldiers. She couldn't assign them to anything but guard duty with a clear conscience.

Target nearly slammed into her, he was flying so quickly and erratically. Quickly, she extracted from him that there were twenty soldiers with the giant. Not a terrible number, if she had even ten trained warriors by her side.

But she would take what she could get. "Archers!" she shouted. "Take the wall, and shoot the soldiers _at my command!_ Do _not_ aim for the giant! Ordinary arrows won't pierce his skin!"

Her heart was pounding, but she kept her face calm, trying to arrange the villagers in a way that they could do maximum damage with minimum done to them.

Then giant and soldiers alike came from around the mountain – sloppy, she thought distantly, they should've sent a scout – and she couldn't worry about them anymore. As she braced herself, Kel wished for nothing more than her tilting saddle, but it wasn't exactly something she carried around.

"Charge."

When Kel had been younger, living in Yaman, there had been a storm that came from the sea. It was horrible, creating waves higher than the tallest building she had ever seen. Maybe it was the moment, but Kel didn't feel like she was riding an avalanche – she was riding a tsunami.

She brought her lance down and leaned forward, her world narrowed to a red, blotchy leg. Her aim was true; her lance lodged in the giant's leg – Kel released just in time – and he screamed, falling backwards. Kel shot through his open legs and turned Peachblossom sharply to avoid injury. Then, almost without thinking, she drew Griffon from her back and cantered forward to slit the giant's throat as he fell. Kel was drenched in blood, though she turned to keep it from her eyes.

Looking around, she saw that the archers had done better than expected. Three were dead, and two injured on the ground. Kel took two more that were fool enough to attack her with Griffon in hand; the remaining ran away. Instead of giving chase, Kel memorized their faces. They had better hope they didn't see her again.

She dismounted, gave one of the injured a mercy kill, and trussed the other up before throwing him over Peachblossom. At least one would meet justice in the courts.

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**An: This is my respone to Angelancy's challenge. I'm using her chapter as my prolog. All reviews are most desperatly wanted and welcome. I'll be posting my fisrt chapter ( the one I actually wrote) shortly.**

**ENJOY**


	2. Chapter 2

One week later the sun shone intensely in the clear chilled air, reflecting off the thin sheet of snow tenfold. The wounded had been tended, the opposing soldiers dispatched and all damage done to the fort repaired. In fact all that remained of that battle was the eerie cries that kept everyone up at night. Haunting the dreams of those that managed to drift.

"Kel, we have to do something about him. He's terrifying the villagers and the sleeping draughts I give him don't work," Neal jerked his head in the direction of a hut. Located in a faraway corner of the town it was lonely and desolate, it was the prison of a condemned man.

"We'll have to do something. Maybe a weak kind of poison would better on him; it'd have to be strong enough to knock him out without killing him," Kel thought hard about to silence the unnerving songs, running through the short list of herbs and techniques she knew. Most of them had nothing to do with drugging; this wasn't her area of expertise.

"Hmm, that might work… I think have just the thing, come with me," Neal walked off without a second glance moving briskly. Kel wondered at the purposeful look on his face. Neal was rarely the serious about most anything.

"What are you up to? I've noticed that you've holed away in your corner of the infirmary."

"If I told you then it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?" smiling knowingly, it was irritating to know that he knew something she didn't. She bit back a sharp reply.

The apothecary; tucked in the back of the infirmary smelled strongly of musty herds and strangely enough sulphur. Neal ducked under a joist leading Kel through a doorway barred by an old blanket. Pushing past the blanket Kel was stopped in her tracks by the wretched stink that in enveloped her. Coughing and waving away the fumes she choked out, "what _is_ that?"

"That my dear is the sweet smell of distilled alcohol of the highest proof and sulphuric acid among other things, but their much nastier," Neal said mildly fiddling with glass and steal beakers. He found what he was looking for. A small bottle that was empty except for the dribble of clear liquid at the bottom. He held it up with such pride Kel wondered was so fantastic about a bit of water in a jar.

"And what exactly is this that I'm looking at?" she asked frowning at the little jar.

"It's what you can't see that is important. The gas inside knocks you out, it's called Ether."

"A knock out gas, That's amazing. Will it work on the giant?"

"I hope so; I've run out of ideas. I discovered it by accident and passed out before I could finish my experiment."

"We'll try it tonight after, before he starts his singing," Kel picked up the beaker and looked closely at the liquid inside. Wondering how something that looked so simple and harmless could knock out a giant. Her thoughts drifted to the composition of the concoction. How did Nealen think to mix alcohol and Sulphuric acid; A bit of an odd combination to say the least. She never realized it before but now that she thought back on it Neal had always had an aptitude for chemistry. Keladry had thought that it came with his healing but it took real skill and effort to create anything worth keeping, even more so when producing something that could potentially save or take life.

During supper Kel alerted a few of her choice men of the plan to sedate their captive. She'd need several strong hands to keep him under control while tranquilized him. The first few days of his stay, tension had run high; his raging had nearly torn down the makeshift prison. He had ripped through the rope so easily that it would've been pointless. Kel had manacles installed with the thickest chain that was available. Since then he had remained unnervingly quite except during the twilight when he sung.

Kel particularly disliked the nightly serenade, is shivers running down her neck like a cold sweat. To her it sounded as if there was a forlorn wolf in her small town. She almost thought it better to have left him alone, either that or killing him in the same swift manner she did to the other. Neither of those options, justice must be served but to kill unduly left a bad taste in her mouth.

It was dusk; the sky was molten with violet clouds floating on the breeze and trees black cuts pressed against the back drop. Six figures trouped along horizon. Kel led the group across the fort stopping at the little house tucked away from the rest.

They entered with a purposeful quiet. They bee lined past the guard who kept quiet giving them a sharp nod and small smile, a little salute to Kel as she passed. It wasn't hard to find the giant. Leaning against the wall with his legs stretched out, toes nearly brushing the other side. He looked sound asleep eyes closed mouth parted, his head resting on his shoulder. The soldiers weren't as quiet as they thought; the giant woke slowly gazing at them with narrow eyes. They moved around him cautiously, positioning themselves strategically.

As he woke some more his alertness increased. He watched them, leery and calm. He made no move to stop them. It would've been pointless and besides he was far too tired to bother. When he looked closer at his captors he noticed that one of them was female. Their leader, the woman who had killed Creb. A cold wave of dread washed over him. He saw how easily she had slain his uncle; cold fury hidden away behind that mask. He hoped dearly that he would not meet the same swift end. Still; he wished that he could help his uncle, his body fading back to the earth and his spirit discontented in the afterlife.

The lead female spoke in clam and serious tones, wanting to get the job done quickly. Her men took their places ready and waiting.

"Alright Neal you'd better do it now. We're ready." He nodded sharply gliding past everyone until stood directly adjacent to the giants head, nearly on top of him. Deftly twisting of the bottle topper the soldiers held the giant still stopping him from jerking away from the jar being shoved under his nose. A few moment of this he stopped struggling altogether and drifted into darkness.

In the last hazy moments before dark Toridan mind's eye was filled with visions of angry sprites looming around him. These were of little concern to him. He had the strangest sensation that he could feel his uncle's eyes watching him but was unable to turn his head to see if it was true. A stab of regret pierced his heart as he thought of the family he had left behind. He was unable to bring back the news to his friends and family comfort his Mate and children. He couldn't even tell them if he'd had a proper burial. His grief for his family was greater than his resentment of being confined. He'd only hoped to stop violence so that his people could live peacefully and he'd wound up the prisoner of the lady Giantkiller


End file.
